


Hold on to this lullaby

by PlatonicLovers



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Sad Ending, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:55:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29041986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlatonicLovers/pseuds/PlatonicLovers
Summary: Inspired by Taylor Swift’s Safe and Sound, song fic related to the lyrics. For the purposes of this song, it’s not a happy ending 🥺 proceed with caution and have tissues ready.Warning: major character death.All mistakes are my own (written on my lunch break at work😅)
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	Hold on to this lullaby

His heart is racing and he feels a sharp pain by the side of his neck but he can’t move his arms to check. It’s as though his limbs are in a full body bind and everything, _everything,_ burns. Severus knew his life would be a sacrifice but if he realized it would be this painful, he would have told that brilliantly daft lunatic to bugger off years ago. He feels the cold air against his wound and as slight as the comfort, he holds on to it until it’s time to slip away.

\--------

Hermione paces back to the Shrieking Shack, knowing it was wrong to leave him there but now isn’t the time to admonish herself. _(She can’t think...doesn’t even know what she will do if he doesn’t make it.)_ Eventually she begins running and as she reaches a few meters away she pace walks again. Whatever his condition, Hermione doesn’t want to alarm him any further.

She seems him before he sees her; his slumped body is against the wall and his head leans to the side he’s apparently losing blood from. Her vision blurs momentarily but she fights back tears and walks towards him. She kneels in front of him and attempts to assess the damage.

 _“It’s me”_ Hermione whispers. _As though they are part of a friendship where her presence is anticipated._

Severus stirs before he looks up and the gravity of the situation lands in the pit of her stomach as fast as falling bricks from the sky. He’s badly injured; blood seeps from his wound and his face is slightly bruised. 

“Mi…..Gr….” he attempts but she hushes him. It aches when he tries to talk. She rips cloth from his robes, balling it up to gently hold by his neck. She murmurs healing incantations she’s learnt but doesn’t feel the magic working.

“Don’t speak, it’ll only feel worse,” she informs him shakily.

Hermione freezes as he brings his hand to rest on the arm she’s holding the cloth with.

He’s looks at her with desperate eyes and faintly says _“Go.”_

She shakes her head vigorously. “I’m not leaving you here.” _To die,_ she doesn’t add.

 _“S’okay…”_ Severus replies and she can feel the warmth where his touch meets her skin. The tears form in her eyes and she doesn’t stop them when they spill over.

 **“** I won’t. let. Go.” She doesn’t have to distinguish between letting go of his neck or letting go of _him,_ but he accepts it nevertheless. In any other situation Hermione would be embarrassed by how much she fights for him but he has done _so_ much, been a slave to the war for _so_ long; he deserves a chance of a life after the war as much as they all do.

Severus scares her when she sees his own tears glistening in his eyes and eventually they drip down his cheeks. How can he tell her that his impending death is the first time in living memory that he doesn’t feel alone. Not with her here. He’s selfish and wants her to stay but she is so young and already wounded with all the horrors of the war. So, he wills her to go; to let him wallow alone in a fate sealed many moons ago but she refuses. He understands this, her incessant need to help. _Hermione Granger; The stubborn know-it-all._

It's seems to be getting darker even though minutes have passed and she knows she has to get him help.

“I need to find someone…” her voice trails off as he squeezes her arm.

“Don’t…lea…alone…” Severus strains and she hushes again, soothingly.

“Okay.” She thinks for a moment. “We’ll need to move.” He looks at her with the same distressed eyes and it breaks her heart even more. He resists at first but knows she has no other options. Eventually Severus is standing although most of his body weight is leaning on her. She casts a quick clean over the once blood soaked rag and charms his hand to hold it to his neck. The other arm is draped over her neck and at first she struggles to get her balance but they begin to walk slowly in unison.

Severus winces a few times and she mumbles _you’ll be oka_ y, hoping she sounds convincing. What she wants to tell him is he’s safe and that he’ll make it but those are things she cannot promise. They walk a little further until he cannot physically walk anymore and he slowly collapse on the floor and brings her down with him.

“We need to keep going” Hermione cries hysterically. he pulls her in gently and she’s resting on his uninjured side. She buries her face into the side of his chest.

 _It hurts so much but it feels so comforting,_ Severus thinks. He has no strength left to hold her so he rests his hand on the small of her back, the easiest place he can reach. She begins to spout words he can’t make out through her tears but catches that they need to try and again, she won’t leave him. He knows it’s inappropriate to encourage this but right now they’re two people; one soon to be casualty of the war. He won’t be alive to face the consequences so he takes all the relief he can get.

“Talk. Sing. Da..dance.” He asks and it’s enough to get her to calm down and look up at him in confusion. He’s attempts to divert her attention and is surprised when she quietly starts humming. She returns to her place, tucked away next to him and her hum turns into words. Although her voice is shaky, its soothing enough. He closes his eyes and inhales deeply.

_“Just close your eyes, the sun is coming up. You’ll be alright, no one can hurt you now.”_

She feels his shoulders loosen up, then his arms. The hand on the small of her back falls away.

_“Come morning light, you and I’ll be safe, and sound.”_

She turns to look up at him and knows he is no longer there. She wraps her arms around his body, burying her face into the uninjured side of his neck and cries.

  
————-

**Author's Note:**

> Ever since I first heard the song, I knew it would be incredible for a hurt/comfort fic. Lo and behold this. Also, Snape deserved a better death than he had so this was the least I could give him😩


End file.
